Long Tom

Also known as:
Longstone Cross
Nearest town:
Liskeard (6km S)
OS reference:
SX256705
OS sheet:
201
Latitude:
50° 30' 27.62 N
Longitude:
4° 27' 35.47 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Long Tom (Christianised Site) by Mannaz

View of Long Tom carefully cropped to remove all the radio/phone masts in the distance.

Image credit: Mannaz
M
Mannaz Jul 31, 2005
Image of Long Tom (Christianised Site) by Mr Hamhead

Is this another stone cross in the making? It lies at Long Toms feet, west side.

Mr Hamhead
Mr Hamhead May 5, 2004
Image of Long Tom (Christianised Site) by pure joy

I was pretty determined to spend ‘Christmas Day’ 2002 on a wind swept moor amongst ancient sites, and I managed to do just that.

I started with a quiet drive to the most famous quoit in East Cornwall, the huge Trethevy Quoit. I had seen it so many times in pictures; it was great to see it for real.

I moved onto toward the Hurlers but not before stopping at The Longstone Cross / Long Tom Cross. It may have once been a menhir that was then Christianised by carving a cross on its face. The stone stands alone, often amongst sheep roaming the moor, and on the horizon a line of old mine chimneys can been seen, marking the lode (course) of a copper vein. Even on this day there were lots of walkers and doggie people around The Hurlers, which was nice. It’s good to see people taking an interest (even a passing interest) in our history. Not only are the circles fascinating, but the whole place is steeped in history, from the Pipers, Rillaton Barrow, the Cheesewring, Stowe’s Pound, and Craddock moor sites, to the plethora of old mining ruins.

Without a map or compass you may be lucky enough to stagger across the fallen Craddock Moor Circle 1 km North West of the Hurlers whilst exploring Craddock Moor. Even with a map and compass you may not find them as the stones are all recumbent and are not visible from any distance. Further on is the tiny Craddock Moor Stone Row. There’s no easy way to describe how to get to this but if you wanna go try my instructions (or practice better compass reading that me – not hard!).

A few kilometres away from the Hurlers area, King Doniert’s Stone(s) stand in a beautiful walled enclosure, complete with stone benches. The Cornwall Heritage Trust could obviously teach English Heritage a thing or two.

I love ancient sites but sometimes you need a break so I went to the Eden Project on the 26th. This is not a criticism but of all the people who needed to go I wasn’t high on the list – I live a few kilometres from Kew Gardens and they are pretty similar in many ways. Anyway, go and see, and if you do, please spend a minute filling in a Gift Aid form, which means that they can claim 28% extra (over and above your admission fee) from the taxman.

On my way to Bodmin Moor I stopped at Lesquite Quoit but couldn’t properly explore, and had a wander around the huge Lanhydrock estate. The rest of the day was spent on the moor visiting the three stone circles of Stannon, Louden Hill, and Fernacre. Many of my stone counts didn’t match other people’s counts, the most interesting of which may have been Louden Hill where I counted 31 stones, as opposed to Craig Weatherhill’s 16/17 stones.

I also stumbled across something that could be interesting, or could just be a few stones in a quarter circle – I’ve taken the liberty of calling it Louden Hill 2?? I take no responsibility for it being just a couple of stones spotted by an eccentric walker on a lonely moor! I also came across a stone cist and two cairns between Louden Hill and Fernacre, which all seemed to align East-West to a stone in the background. As the night descended it led to the photos coming out very dark and now I scratch my head and wonder if it was just my imagination……a strange day.

Image credit: Martin Bull
pure joy
pure joy Feb 24, 2003
Image of Long Tom (Christianised Site) by phil

This image hides the huge mast on Caradon Hill in the distance.

phil
phil Feb 9, 2002

Articles

Long Tom

C
CARL Apr 21, 2015

Visited 16.1.15

Directions:
About 1km south-west of Minions (No sign of Gru!)

Long Tom is easy to spot from the road and parking is also easy – on the grass verge.

Long Tom is a tall, slender stone which has a good covering of ‘hairy moss’ – dried out on my visit due to the wonderful warm weather. The cross carved on its southern face is easier to make out than the cross on the northern side. The stone is situated in a fine moorland setting with good all round views.

Long Tom is well worth stopping off for when en route between visiting Trethevy Quoit and the nearby Hurlers stone circles.

Long Tom

pure joy
pure joy Jan 9, 2003

The Longstone Cross / Long Tom Cross – 25.12.2002

This stone is situated just off the main road 800 metres South West of Minions (on the road towards the A38). The stone stands alone, often amongst sheep roaming the moor, an impressive 285cm (H) x 60 (W) x 30 (D), complete with mark on the back and carved cross. It may have once been a menhir that was then Christianised by carving a cross on its face.

This stone is not mentioned in Craig Weatherhill’s excellent book ‘Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly’ (Cornwall Books – 1985, revised 1997 & 2000), maybe because it bears no inscription to make it more special than the many other stone crosses / Christianised menhirs in Cornwall.

On the horizon behind a line of old mine chimneys can been seen, marking the lode (course of) of a copper vein.

Long Tom

phil
phil Nov 30, 2001

On the road from St. Clear to the Hurlers. A Christianised menhir?

The most phallic of all Cornish menhirs!

Sites within 20km of Long Tom

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